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Broncos coach John Fox talks about his new contract

Denver Broncos head coach John Fox, and John Elway, Executive Vice President of Football Operations, talk to the media at Dove Valley in Englewood, on February 4, 2014. (Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post)

As his contract extension was laboring through negotiations, Broncos coach John Fox was preparing himself for a worst-case scenario.

The worst case for any NFL coach is to lead as a lame duck. This is the term used when a coach has one, and only one more year left on the contract.

Listen to me, men. Problem is, players tend to not fully listen knowing their coach is on the hot seat.

There will be no such distraction for the 2014 Broncos. Fox will not be a lame duck this season as the Broncos tore up the final year of his initial contract and gave him a new three-year deal that runs through the 2016 seasons.

"That's never easy," Fox said Saturday morning. "I've done it before (with Carolina in 2010). I was prepared, but that's not something you'd like to do. This is the ultimate good thing to happen. I think it's a good deal all the way around.

"There's a personal side to this, too. My wife and I love it here. Shoot, my boys don't even live here and they love it here. We've got great fans. I love working for Pat Bowlen. John Elway is a great boss. It's a great organization. All of that plays a part in it.

"Now, that's all good and dandy but, shoot, we've still got work to do. We've made some progress but we haven't reached our ultimate goal yet and that's a world championship."

Fox, 59, is going on his 13th season as an NFL head coach. His first 10 were spent trying to win without an elite quarterback, meaning no disrespect to the overachieving Jake Delhomme and Tim Tebow.

For going on his third season, Fox's quarterback will be Peyton Manning. He'd much prefer it this way, although there can be a thankless aspect to having such an elite quarterback.

"Sure the expectations are high," Fox said. "That comes with the territory. You understand the criticism. There's three sets of hats. We've won the division hat every year for three. We've won one conference hat. Now we want to win the world championship hat. We haven't done that yet. That's our goal."

When Fox was hired by the Broncos in 2011, he inherited a team coming off a 4-12 record. The team has improved each year. With Tebow at quarterback, the Broncos won the AFC West and a first-round playoff game in 2011.

In 2013, the Broncos again went 13-3 with a No. 1 seed, but this time won two AFC playoff games to advance to the Super Bowl. Where upon the team got trounced by Seattle.

Good as the Broncos have been in their three seasons under Fox, they have yet to win it all. Then again, the Broncos weren't the only good team to play in the 12-team postseason tournament the past three years.

New England has a great quarterback in Tom Brady and they haven't won the Super Bowl for going on 10 years. New Orleans and Drew Brees has only won one.

Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers is a great quarterback. Brett Favre before him was great. They only have one Super Bowl title each.

San Diego's Philip Rivers is real good, yet he has not even played in the Super Bowl.

Manning has one Super Bowl championship but that was with Indianapolis in 2006. To get one with the Broncos in 2014, Manning and Fox should have a more balanced team to work with as the defense picked up three Pro Bowlers through free agency in DeMarcus Ware, Aqib Talib and T.J. Ward,

"The challenge for us — I'm not talking about everyone in the building, whether it's assistant coaches, personnel — is the personality of your team changes every year," Fox said. "We've still got a lot of work to do."

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